Blair Camera Co.

Champion Reversible Back, Improved

Date Introduced: - ; Years Manufactured: c.1889-1894
Construction: front focus via rack and pinion and a central rod; single or double swing; reverse by removable back; three-piece lensboard; gear in the middle on a brass rod
Materials: mahogany body; cherry base, black fabric bellows; brass or nickeled hardware, French polish lacquer finish.
Sizes Offered: 1510=5x8; 1511=6.5x8.5; 1512=8x10
Notes:   As strange a design as Blair ever devised, the front standard pulls out to start, then is affixed to the central brass rod via a thumbscrew.  At this point, the front of the camera is moved to focus using the thumbscrew at the back, right-side bottom, which cranks the brass rod back and forth.  Thus, it is a front focus camera on which the focus knob is at the back.  The above photographed camera is missing the front section of the brass rod, which had to be detachable, like the front bed extension.  The Blair 1893 catalog states that the Reversible Back Camera and the Champion Reversible Back Camera are superceded in design.
References:
Oscar Foss (San Francisco) Catalog, 1890, p. 5-6
Anthony's Photographic Bulletin XXV No. 5, May 1 1894, p. xi

Back to The Blair Companies